Cabbage and Pasta

I have to apologise at the lack of photo here. You see, we love this so much, that as soon as it was cooked we ate it all up!!!

Seriously wonderful, quick, easy, and delicious comfort food.

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked pasta (any sort will be fine - we usually use bowties or macaroni)
2 onions finely sliced
1 tbs caraway seeds
1/2 cup of sour cream
3 or 4 cups of finely sliced red cabbage
oil for frying + a small knob of butter for extra flavour
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Saute onions gently in the oil + butter until they are soft, sweet and translucent.

Stir in the caraway seeds. Add in the cabbage and cook until tender.

Add in the pasta, stir to combine. Then add in the sour cream, and stir through. If it is a bit "dry" and not saucy enough to coat add in a splash of water or milk. It should not be a runny sauce, but it should coat/cling to the pasta and cabbage.

Eat and enjoy!

Chestnut and sage soup

As we start heading towards Autumn I start dreaming of soup... and this one is truly luxurious. It has a wonderful texture, and a warming nutty and sweet-savoury taste. It takes a bit of time and effort to roast an peel the chestnuts, but other than that this soup is a breeze.

Serves 2 for main, 4 for entree....

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil with a small knob of butter
1 onion finely chopped
6 chopped sage leaves
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 litre of stock - vegetable or chicken is best
500g roasted and peeled chestnuts.

optional: sour cream or creme fraiche to serve, plus a few extra sage leaves (if you take the time to fry them crispy, they make an awesome granish)

Method

Fry onions in the oil & butter until soft, sweet and translucent. Add in the garlic clove and stir for a minute.

Add in the sage leaves and chestnuts, and stock. Cook for 15 minutes or until the chestnuts are soft and mushy. season with salt and pepper to taste.

Puree the mixture until it is the consistency you desire.Serve with crusty bread, a dollop of sour cream, and enjoy.

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Baked eggs with creamy spinach

 

Ingredients

300g baby spinach
2 tablespoons crumbled boursin (or cream cheese, with chopped garlic and chives)
4 tbs cream
4 eggs
  
Buttered toast, to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Lightly grease four 3/4 cup-capacity ovenproof dishes.


Place spinach in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high (100%) for 1 minute 30 seconds or until just wilted. Transfer spinach to a sieve. Using the back of a spoon, press down on spinach to drain excess liquid.


Divide spinach between prepared dishes. Sprinkle each with cheese and add a tablespoon of cream.
 
Gently crack 1 egg into each dish. Season with salt and pepper. Place dishes on a baking tray. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until eggwhite is just set. Remove from oven. Stand for 2 minutes. Serve with toast.



Note: I love love love my new little mini baking dishes - they are sooo cute!!

Zucchini and Rosemary Frittata

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
4 large eggs
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon  fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup grated cheese
 

Method

Heat oil in a frypan over medium-high heat; add garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add rosemary leaves and zucchini; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring continuously. Season with salt and pepper.
 
whisk together the eggs, egg whites,  and season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the zucchini and cook, just until the eggs begin to set, about 3 minutes.
 
Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top. Place pan under the broiler for 3 minutes or until the fritatta rises slightly and becomes light and settled. The eggs should not be runny. Transfer to a serving plate, cut into pie-shaped wedges, and serve.

Goes great with a fresh salad!

Bondon Cheese

Bondon cheese is a French cheese from the Normandy region. It can be made with either cow or goats milk. It is a mild cream cheese, with a greatly reduced fat content to normal cream cheese as it is made from milk rather than cream. Great with crackers, or mixed with herbs. Melts nicely into a white sauce as well ;)

Ingredients

• 2 litres of full cream milk
• 4 drops of calcium chloride diluted in 2 tbs of non chlorinated water (unless you are using milk straight from the cow/goat!)
• one dose of MO 030 meophilic starter culture
• 2 drops liquid rennet diluted in 2 tbs of non chlorinated water

Instructions

• heat milk to 20^oC 
• remove from heat source, add the calcium chloride and stir well
• add the starter culture and mix well
• ass the rennet and mix well
• cover and let stand for 24 hours in a warm place so that the milk mixture does not drop below 20^oC 
• line a colander with cheesecloth. ladle the curds into the cloth, and drain for 5 minutes. 
• Tie the colth and hand to drain for 6-8 houirs.
• Press the cheese for 5-6 hours either in a cheese mould or in between two cutting or cheese boards with a 5kg weight on top. 
• remove it, place it in a bowl, and add salt to taste.

Staisa's Sousy Scallywag Pudding

This was my mums signature dessert. Every year she was asked to bring it to work Christmas functions, and she would also make it for New Year's Eve. It is simple, but really really yummy. This year I made one for Christmas eve dinner with friends, and was forced to make one again for New Year.... not so much of a hardship, really.

Ingredients

600ml bottle of cream
A packet of scalliwags*
1/3 cup icing sugar
sprinkles and other sugar decorations as your heart desires
1/2 cup Tia Maria (rough estimate)** 

Method

This was for a news year dinner;
using kahlua instead of tia maria

Whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla till stiff. You don't want the cream too sweet, as the rest of the dessert will be very sweet, so use less sugar if you wish but don't add more.
dunk a scalliwag into tia maria. Slather it with cream. Stand it on a serving tray. Take another scalliwag, dunk it into tia maria, slather it with cream and sandwich it to the previous biscuit. Repeat until you have run out of biscuits, and have created a long log of creamy little scalliwags.
Cover the entire log in cream. Decorate to your taste.
Cover and chill for at least 6 hours.

Cut, serve and eat. Is yummy on the day, better the next day, and awesome on day 3. It never makes it to day 4, so I can't tell you how long it would actually last ;)

Notes:

* Scalliwags are thin chocolate biscuits shaped like scalliwags, which is to say politically correct golliwogs.
** You can experiment with other alcoholic beverages here- kahlua, schnapps, frangelico all work well.

This was our Christmas version

Disclaimers:

Alcoholic, so not for the kiddies.

I really like the word scalliwags

Queso Blanco (White Cheese)

This is a mexican curd cheese. It is remarkablly bland and mild in flavour, and is a great carrier and complement to other flavours. It is great used as a base for dips - adding in fresh herbs, garlic, etc makes for a really lovely spread for crackers. It is a fantastic complement to spicy foods, and makes a nice white cheese sauce.

Ingredients

2 litres of milk

1/4 cup of vinegar

Method

• heat milk to 60C - note to those who don't have a thermometer: this is when the milk starts to achieve a slow boil.
• take off the heat, pour in the vinegar and stir for a minute.
• leave for 20 minutes for the curds to form
• line a colander with cheesecloth, and place this over a saucepan or bowl to catch any liquid
• pour or ladle the curds into the colander
• leave for 5 minutes, then tie the cheesecloth and suspend over a bowl for 2 hours on until it has stopped dripping.
• Salt to taste